ECU to be down three offensive starters

Posted by John Taylor on October 18, 2011, 12:14 PM EST

If East Carolina is going to exact some revenge on Navy for their 41-point beatdown last season, they’re going to have to do so with more than a quarter of their starting offense standing on the sidelines.

Guard Adhem Elsawi and center Doug Polochak will both miss the game with the service academy due to knee injuries. Wide receiver Justin Jones will miss the game with a wrist injury that kept him out of Saturday’s win against Memphis. Jones also missed the first three games of the year due to a knee injury.

A total of 14 players were listed on ECU’s Monday injury report.

“We’re banged up,” head coach Ruffin McNeill said in succinctly summing up the Pirates’ injury situation.

Last season, ECU fell to the Midshipmen 76-35 as the academy rolled up 521 yards and scored eight of their touchdowns on the ground. McNeill said his Pirates “will not focus on revenge for one second” heading into the game.